About

Since 2002, The NY Jewish Week’s Write On For Israel program has educated and engaged more than 600 top high school students on Israel and the Middle East, empowering them to become leaders and influencers in the pro-Israel community when they get to college.

Using the lens of journalism, Write On transforms Jewish teens into confident spokespeople and opinion leaders in preparation for the challenges they will face at college and beyond.

One of the first “early engagement” programs to identify and educate young Israel supporters before they get to campus, Write On/NY is a highly selective leadership training program which targets top high school juniors and seniors. Our student body is comprised of Jewish day school, public and private non-secular school teenagers, all with a deep connection to Israel and desire to become active and vocal leaders in the pro-Israel movements on campus.

Using the lens of journalism, Write On trains students to use their writing to defend, educate and advance Israel’s positions in the media through opinion pieces and letters to the editor. We provide students with a strong, historical foundation, teaching ancient Jewish and Israel history as well as current events. Our Leadership Training Institute helps them become more effective speakers and debaters, giving them confidence to take the lead early in their college journey. Perhaps most importantly, we infuse them with our expectations that they will take the training and become leaders in the pro-Israel movement on campus by helping to build support and understanding both inside and outside the college classroom.

Write On For Israel is a special 2 year program, beginning for students in the 11th grade. Applications are sought from high school sophomores.

On college campuses, students are faced with the activities of anti-Israel groups who put on public events—including but not limited to Israel Apartheid Week, where Israel is unfairly compared to racially segregated South Africa—to delegitimize Israel’s very existence. Inside the classroom, professors often criticize Israel’s conduct and policies or teach Middle East history from a position that is intellectually unbalanced.

Our goal is to give students the training and self-confidence to confront these detractors and to build support for Israel on campus through:

Studying Jewish history and current events as they relate to Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians and her other Arab neighbors.

8 day mission to Israel during Presidents Week, Senior Year of High chool.

Understanding Israel’s internal conflicts and security concerns.

Exploring journalism, media analysis as it relates to the Middle East and learning the importance of writing to advance Israel’s positions.

Practicing Israel advocacy skills, from debating and public speaking, to organizing informational campaigns.

Relationship building, with peers, professors, student leaders on campus, representatives of leading Jewish organizations and others.

Write On seniors hear from Jonathan Kessler, Director of Strategic Initiatives at AIPAC

Arab Affairs analyst, Ehud Yaari, speaks to the Write On students.

IDF Spokesman, Lt. Colonel Peter Lerner talking to the Write On students about the challenges of defending Israel's military to the international press.

Neil Lazarus, Communications Consultant at Awesome Seminars, giving a workshop to the Write On students.

Write On students with Yossi Klein Halevi and Khaled Abu Toameh.

Write On students at the 2017 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C.

Write On gives students training and confidence to confront anti-Israel detractors and build support for Israel on campus...

According to our research and follow-up, WOFI graduates demonstrate a markedly increased level of knowledge about Israel, sophisticated writing, research, and debate skills with regard to Israel and above all, a greater sense of commitment towards the Jewish state. To our knowledge, no other program offers this kind of discussion, skill building and group bonding activities that effectively inspires and transforms the next generation of young Jewish leaders.

To see if you are eligible for the program, and how to apply, click here.